For years BroadwayWorld has been the premier site for instant updates on all things Broadway in major theatrical markets, including Atlanta, San Francisco, London and of course New York City. Just four hours north of the great wide way theater is flourishing in central and upstate New York. Albany, Rochester, Syracuse and Ithaca all maintain professional, regional theatres that offer a wide variety of experiences for theatergoers. Here’s what’s on our radar (and what you can look for reviews of) in the coming months.
Albany:
At Capital Rep, the musical play BLACK PEARL SINGS by Frank Higgins and Yasmina Reza’s GOD OF CARNAGE are two dramatic works that explore the ways people manipulate and try to take advantage of each other, to a sometimes mutual demise.
Based on the story of rock legend Leadbelly and John Lomax, in BLACK PEARL SINGS an ethnomusicologist visits a prison and discovers Pearl, a talented, black singer who she is determined to commodify. In GOD OF CARNAGE Reza writes about two families, meeting for the first time, after their children have been involved in a scuffle at school, but their differing opinions about fault make this meeting less than brief.
PEARL runs March 13-April, 7 with previews starting March 9. CARNAGE runs May 1-27, with previews starting April 27.
Ithaca:
BROKE-OLOGY by Nathan Louis Jackson is a fringe theater favorite about the King family in Kansas City, trying to get down to the science of being broke. BROKE-OLOGY runs at the always exciting Kitchen Theatre April 4-22.
Syracuse:
Syracuse Opera is known for producing good work in a short run, so CARMINA BURANA should not be any exception. Playing February 10 and 12 at the Muhlroy Civic Center, this is a contemporary take on Carl Orff’s 24-movement, poetic, cantata, featuring the popular song “O Fortuna.”
Also in the “Salt City,” Syracuse Stage is producing two rarely done, contemporary works that take audiences to the bayou this spring—Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori’s CAROLINE, OR CHANGE and THE BROTHERS SIZE by Tarell Alvin McCraney.
CAROLINE, OR CHANGE is a sung-through musical, set in Lake Charles, La. In 1963, is about the price of change. Caroline Thibideaux is working for the Gellman family and when an agreement between Caroline and Rose about young Noah leaving pocket change in his pockets intertwines with Hanukah and Civil Rights, their lives are altered. With a powerhouse cast, plus the director (Marcela Lorca) and Caroline (Greta Ogelsby) from The Guthrie Theatre’s production, this show runs February 1-26.
THE BROTHERS SIZE runs April 18-May 12, with previews April 18 and 19, and tells the story of two brothers, one responsible and the other just out of prison in the Louisiana bayou. A poetic blend of drama and Nigerian mythology weaves together this narrative about two brothers looking for a place to belong.
Rochester:
Geva Theatre is producing Lorraine Hansberry’s classic A RAISIN IN THE SUN. This drama is about a family on the verge of breaking after the death of its patriarch. Discontent with living in a dumbbell tenement in Chicago’s south side, when the family receives a check for $10,000, everyone has a different plan on how to spend the money. This show runs February 21 through March 25.
The consistently, sold-out Rochester City Ballet is producing THE BLOOD COUNTESS, based on the legend of Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed of Hungary. She got the name “Blood Countess” from rumors that she killed virgins, then bathed in their blood to remain youthful. Running February 3-5, the ballet will feature live music performed by the Grammy Award winning Ying Quartet and pianist Elinor Freer.
